Volume IV • Number 5 • Мay 2016 • $97
TWO KEYS to Entrepreneurial Success
LESSONS LEARNED FROM
DONALD TRUMP expert interview with
FIX
YOUR BROKEN FUNNEL
Colin Theriot
The Dark Side of Persuasion
May 2016
ABOUT STEVE
About the Publisher, Steve Sipress If you want to grow your business slowly – or just maintain it as is, you’ll have to do that all on your own. But if you want dramatic growth in your income and lifestyle, then Steve’s out-of-the-box and time-tested strategies and tactics could be the keys to your dreams. You can benefit from Steve’s coaching experience and expertise to revolutionize your business – yes, even in this challenging economy – at one of the many in-person entrepreneur events he hosts, OR from the comfort of your own home anywhere in the world. You can also learn basic and advanced direct response marketing strategies and tactics from 150+ hours of video instruction, plus use any or all of Steve’s multi-million-dollar, proven “done-for-you” marketing materials at SSSMarketingUniversity.com. That website has been called The Single Most Powerful Client Attraction Program Available Anywhere, and you could be using it to skyrocket your income anytime you want, 24/7, along with hundreds of other sharp, successful business leaders. If you’re just starting up your new business, you’ll want to take advantage of all of Steve’s training, guidance and resources at NewBusinessAcademy.org. Steve is a successful and award-winning serial entrepreneur, who has created and built nearly a dozen successful companies of his own, and he can help you do the same – more quickly and easily than you’ve ever imagined. In fact, you can immediately use plenty of his simple and powerful strategies and tactics that work especially well in this current frustrating economy. You can discover the basics of Steve’s powerful “The WOW! Strategy™: How To Solve All Of Your Marketing Problems” by watching a short video at www.SteveSipress.com. Steve is a celebrated author, speaker and business coach who has established profitable businesses and helped thousands of ambitious and aggressive business owners, entrepreneurs, executives and sales professionals all around the world. He has written numerous newsletters and articles on sales and marketing for a wide range of publications and has appeared on radio and television, helping millions of people along the way. For over five years, Steve was the #1 “Dan Kennedy Certified No B.S. Business Advisor,” and was Runner-Up out of 25,000 members for 2010 GKIC Marketer Of The Year. If you want the very best, hard-hitting, no-nonsense, caring advice and help you can get, then “Straight-Talk Steve” could be exactly what you and your business need most. Whether you’re a current or future business superstar, Steve can help you get exactly where you want to go as quickly, easily and powerfully as YOU want – with massive results both short-term and long-term.
ii I RHINO MONTHLY I www.SteveSipress.com
www.SteveSipress.com www.SSSMarketingUniversity.com www.NewBusinessAcademy.org www.Facebook.com/SmallBizHelp www.Twitter.com/SteveSipress
When we first started, I was terribly in debt and we were just a few months away from bankruptcy. We started seeing a boost right away in our business, we took what Steve’s given me and we just started implementing and implementing, and it’s just totally transformed my business. Steve has helped me with my laser focus, he helps me implement, he’s taken my business to a whole new level. We went from a half a million dollars to a million dollars in two years. It’s just an incredible experience to know that where you think you’re just dead and things are horrible, to now anything is possible. I can see taking this to a whole new three or four types of businesses -- it’s going to be huge. Steve is all business, he is an unbelievably smart, brilliant man. I can’t say enough about him. Everything he’s told me, I’ve made so much money it doesn’t matter what it costs. They don’t make enough money in this world that somebody could pay me so I would stop listening to Steve. Steve is the exact reason why I have a retirement fund now. It’s probably illegal how much fun I’m having!”
Jon Bockman
Owner, Bockman’s Auto Care Sycamore, Illinois
LESSONS LEARNED FROM DONALD TRUMP
May 2016
AMONG OTHER THINGS, TRUMP HAS… Masterfully Manipulated The Media Created Controversy To Keep People Captivated Spoken With Simple, Straight-Forward Speech Established The Criteria For Choosing A Candidate Displayed Ferocious Focus Fiercely Fought Back Against Any and All Attackers Zeroed In On What His Target Market Cares About Most Tapped Into The Emotions (both Positive and Negative) Of His Target Market Displayed Unbending Confidence And Strength Made Himself The Constant Center Of Attention And Much, Much More
Interested in finding out more about exactly how he’s done all of this – and, more importantly, how you can do the same to vault your business above all of your competitors?
By Steve Sipress Unless you’ve been on a different planet, it’s hard to ignore the amazing circus over the past year or so known as the U.S. Presidential primary season. And the unquestioned star of that 21-ring circus has been none other than New York billionaire entrepreneur Donald Trump. Nobody thought he would last this long in the race. Certainly no one thought he would be the leading candidate for the Republican nomination. Not even Trump himself. But there he is, sitting atop the ever-dwindling pack of contenders, after almost single-handedly knocking out nearly all of his opponents. Members of the bewildered, clueless media and political establishment are just recently beginning to catch on to how Trump has accomplished this seemingly-impossible task – but sharp marketers have long been aware of how he has masterfully implemented many extremely successful strategies and tactics to skyrocket to the top, and stay there longer than anyone could have imagined.
Then you’ll want to tune in to The Greatest Podcast Of All Time, the one that Makes Podcasting Great Again, The Most Amazing, Terrific, Fantastic Podcast On The Internet Today: The Lessons Learned From Donald Trump Podcast! My co-host Everte Farnell and I post a new episode every week. You can find us on iTunes (please post a 5-Star Rating and excellent Review if you want to help more people discover the podcast), or by going to: www.LessonsLearnedFromDonaldTrump.com This thing is HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!!! To find out more about Steve Sipress and how he can help you have more fun and make more money with your business, see the Inside Cover Page. To get new money-making strategies and tips every weekday from Steve and other top businessbuilding experts from around the world, go to:
www.RhinoDaily.com
www.SteveSipress.com I RHINO MONTHLY
I 1
expert interview with
Colin Theriot
Stefano Buttafoco / Shutterstock.com
The Dark Side of Persuasion Steve Sipress: Colin Theriot, this is an extreme pleasure to have you here on the Rhino Daily Podcast. Colin Theriot: I’m happy to be here. Thanks for having me. Steve: You know, I hesitated saying that, because not only is it a pleasure, but also I have almost no idea what’s about to happen. But I know we’re going to have a ton of fun. For people that don’t know you, I came
to “meet you” online in your fantastic Facebook group The Cult of Copy. That just says it all. It’s not even like people have a choice whether to like and engage with your posts. It’s a cult, and you command us to do and obey as you say with your trickery. Or, as you say, how do you put it? “The dark side of persuasion.” That’s what you’re a specialist in. Colin: Right, right. At the time that I started the group, what I was interested in was looking at… This will make me
2 I RHINO MONTHLY I www.SteveSipress.com
sound shadier than I am, but I tend to believe any particular method of persuasion exists of its own accord, and if you’re a bad person using it, then it can be bad, and if you’re a good person using it, then it can be good. The idea was that I was really interested in things con artists and cult leaders and various sort of “bad guys” that are known as being very persuasive do in our culture. But because they’re “bad guys,” there’s a sort of taboo attitude: “We don’t want to look at what those guys are doing, because they’re evil.”
EXPERT INTERVIEW
I was really interested in things con artists and cult leaders and various sort of “bad guys” that are known as being very persuasive do in our culture. But, like I said, if they do something that a good person can use, to convince people to do things that are good for them, I want to know about it. And there wasn’t really a whole lot of place for looking at the – as you say – “dark side” conversation. So eventually, I took it upon myself to make the place where it was okay to talk about that stuff, and not worry about people looking at you weird, because I won’t look at you weird, I want to talk about it. Steve: Because it doesn’t sound good. “Dark side” doesn’t sound good. And yet it’s so subjective, isn’t it? You say a “good person,” but look: Right now we happen to be – as if we’re ever not – in the midst of another political season. Half of America thinks the other guy is evil, and half of them, as soon as these primaries are done, then half of America is going to think the other person is evil. And yet, they’re both going to think they’re doing everything, and coercing, and manipulating, and persuading, and whatever you want to call it, “for good.” My favorite line is: “Because it’s the right thing to do.” Colin: Right, right. I find a lot of people in marketing in particular are very sensitive to the fact that people in marketing are already looked upon with suspicion by the general population. And then, to ever admit that you’re interested in con artistry, or cult leaders, or political propaganda, would just take them out of the area of any kind of respect from their peers and their neighbors.
But I’m just that kind of weirdo, where I don’t mind being associated with that stuff. Because I really am interested, and I feel like there’s a lot of value there. The way I look at it is, if there’s a technique, and everyone is abandoning it so only the bad guys can use it, that’s not to the benefit of anyone, right? Especially if it’s a technique that can yield really good results for the good guys who have everyone’s best interest in mind. I don’t feel like it’s okay to abandon good methods and good techniques to bad guys, just because they do bad things with those techniques, if that makes sense. Steve: Well, of course it makes sense. You’re preaching to the choir. That’s why I have you here on the Rhino Daily Podcast. I have a saying that “Lifetime Learners Are Lifetime Learners,” and I believe you can learn from anyone. One of my favorite group of marketers to emulate and to model, and to study are – well, now that you mention it, – of course the con artists, but also the charity people that write copy and put together marketing to get charitable contributions. Come on now, think about it, in terms of the value proposition being exchanged here is some warm and fuzzy feelings plus a tote bag for my $300. Colin: Exactly. Steve: That’s ingenious. If we don’t study what they do… I’ve worked with thousands of small business owners, who say all the time: “I’m having trouble getting clients or patients.” You’re selling something of value and you’re having trouble, yet these people that are selling just feelings are going to town! And even, in your case, when you’re talking about con artists, and hucksters, and politicians, they’re selling total nothingness, and they’re getting money for it. So, it behooves us to study them. Colin: The main thing that I try to bring up is: If you’re an expert, and you’re trying to sell your expert advice, you have credentials. But to the client and
May 2016
customer that’s never worked with you, they’re starting from zero. So for them to buy anything from you, they’re going to have to trust in a promise that you made, and then you can prove to them that you know what you’re talking about after they buy, after they take that risk. But it’s always going to be a risk that very first time. So then when you look at con artists, what con artists are incredibly good at is creating that environment of trust and authority to where you want to go in on whatever it is that they suggest, because it seems like the right thing to do at the time. Now it’s bad when they do it, because they’re looking to take your money and provide no value. But if you’re actually a real authority figure, and you have value to offer to this client, how is it not a benefit to you to sort of trick them believing that first, and then you deliver on that promise, right? It’s not fraudulent if you actually have the goods. But that’s what con artists are great at doing, is getting trust out of total strangers very, very quickly. I feel like you’re crazy if you’re in business, and you don’t see value in being able to do that in as many environments as possible. Steve: Well, yes. I always quote him a lot, because it’s the Jay Abraham saying that if you believe that your product or service truly helps people, then we have a moral obligation to market ourselves, and persuade as many people as we can to do business with us, so that they get that solution. Colin: Exactly. It’s a duty. If you believe your product really will help, how are you responsibly going to accept “no” for an answer from someone who could really benefit from it? Steve: Especially when people have choices. So, for instance, I spent three and a half years with a yellow pages company back in the day, and I can’t tell you how many times I walked into somebody who had a little quarter
www.SteveSipress.com I RHINO MONTHLY
I 3
May 2016
EXPERT INTERVIEW
page ad or something, and he would always nastily point to the guy with the full page and go: “Yeah, but that guy is a shyster. He does such crappy work. I’ve got to go in and clean up all of his stuff,” and be grudging and angry at the fact that the guy was a better marketer. Well, that’s what Jay Abraham meant: ‘You sir, with your little quarter page, are failing your moral obligation; you’re allowing all kinds of people in your community to go get shoddy work done by a crappy guy, because you won’t market yourself well.’ Colin: Right, right. And what’s worse is that a lot of people in that position end up locking themselves down, where they actually need these shoddy providers to exist. Because if it wasn’t for cleanup work, they’re so bad at marketing themselves, they wouldn’t get any work. So, they almost rely on the bad guys to go mess it up first, and then that’s when they get the call. Because they don’t know how to get the call first themselves. Steve: Yeah, that’s what I mean. That was kind of their business plan. They’re like, “This is how I get work.” This guy, I remember, a roofer: “This is how I get work. This guy does crappy work, he won’t come and fix the roof, so then I get a call.” I’m like, “Do you understand that he is getting calls, and he’s taking the $40,000 jobs, and letting you get the $5,000 jobs?”
What con artists are incredibly good at is creating that environment of trust and authority to where you want to go in on whatever it is that they suggest, because it seems like the right thing to do at the time. blah blah…” nothingness. And the guy with the really persuasive marketing is getting all the business. So shouldn’t we be doing that, if we have an excellent product or service? Colin: Of course. Absolutely. Steve: So what’s the deal? Like you said, people don’t want to seem like… Words of “manipulation,” or “persuasion,” or “coercion”: these all have negative connotations. But, if the result is that they get a better
Colin: You’re getting the scraps off that guy’s table. Steve: But to the point of why you’re here on the Rhino Daily Podcast, that full page roofer ad, the reason I remember that one, it was filled with all kinds of really smart, persuasive tactics being used there, where any typical advertiser, yellow pages or anywhere else, is just a list of bullet points, of like, “Hey, we’re locally owned, and licensed and bonded, and we’ve been in the neighborhood for 42 years, blah
4 I RHINO MONTHLY I www.SteveSipress.com
experience, then… I can see that we’re at the end of today’s episode, but I want to get into this a little bit tomorrow: Why so many ethical business owners are so gunshy about using persuasive tactics in their marketing? Can we talk about that? Colin: Sure! To listen to the complete interview, go to: www.SteveSipress.com/magazine
Colin Theriot uses his considerable persuasion skills as a top copywriter and cult leader. He has never been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN, Forbes, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., etc., because, as he says, he’s just “too weird for that.” Subscribe to Colin’s Cult Of Copy email list, where you never know what you’ll get, by going to:
www.CultOfCopy.com
Steve Sipress The WOW Strategy™ Creator
To find out if you qualify to join The WOW! Strategy™ Mastermind Group, go to:
Jon Bockman Sycamore, IL
“Steve is all business. He is an unbelievably smart, brilliant, brilliant man. I can't say enough about him. Steve has put probably more, I would say, thousands, and thousands, and thousands of dollars... I mean, I probably can't even put a true figure on it, because it keeps coming back, and keeps coming back, just more and more money all the time.”
“One suggestion that Steve gave me, well, without question, put $300,000 more in my bank account. And we are going to be using it forever. This is not a one-time deal. We’re going to be using this idea that Steve helped us with... and we’ll be using it until it doesn't keep working like it is. And so, the value over time could literally be way over even the $300,000 number.”
Mary Forte Bensenville, IL
Keith Lee Seattle, WA
“He's helped me learn how to market my business, and today I can say that we're more successful than we've ever been… I needed to learn how to market the business better to create more revenue, and that's what Steve has helped me with. The financial difference is considerable. We've probably close to doubled our revenues. We're on track now to do another close to $500,000 more than we did last year. So that's awesome. I do owe all of that to Steve.”
www.SteveSipress.com I RHINO MONTHLY
I 5
May 2016
FIX YOUR BROKEN FUNNEL
Fix Your Broken Funnel By Brittany Lynch I frequently get emails from people asking me why their funnel isn’t working. I always ask the same question back – WHICH part of your funnel isn’t working? It seems that the general conception is that if you aren’t making money or hitting your sales goals, it’s because your entire funnel isn’t working. This is not the case. Sure, you need to look at the big picture of your funnel… but then break it down into its building blocks. What do I mean by that? My funnels often look like this:
Ad –> Lead Capture page –> Pre-sell Page –> Salespage –> Email Marketing Sequence
There are many, many places in this funnel that influence the success or failure of this campaign. Here are just a few:
Ad (CPC/CTR) –> Lead Capture Page (Conversion Rate) –> Pre-sell Page (CTR) –> Salespage (Conversion Rate) –> Email Marketing Sequence (Open Rate/CTR)
In this article, I want to focus on the first half of the funnel. Let’s start with Traffic. I’m going to be using Facebook newsfeed ads in this example, but really the concepts can be applied to any paid traffic. The first thing I look at when someone tells me that their funnel isn’t working is their ad’s Click Through Rate (CTR). CTR influences Cost Per Click (CPC). The higher the CTR, the lower the CPC. Plus, to me, a high CTR signals that you have the right message for the right audience, which will impact the success of the rest of your funnel. My main goal when I launch a new ad is to get a CTR of 8% or higher. Above 10% and you’ll start to see clicks to your website for just pennies. In order to get a CTR this high, I start by asking myself, “What does this audience want more than anything else?” Then I find a way to give that to them. In my beauty niche, I found this out by going to forums and Facebook groups and asking one simple question: “What is the one tool/ingredient you cannot live without?” This exercise is very revealing, and I highly suggest you try it. The answer to that question in my niche was predominantly “essential oils,” so I set up an ad campaign and squeeze page for a free giveaway around winning a set of essential oils, and on my presell page I had them click through to get an Essential Oils Guide ebook.
6 I RHINO MONTHLY I www.SteveSipress.com
My main goal when I launch a new ad is to get a CTR of 8% or higher.
My CTR averaged about 12%. My CPC was about $.03. If your Facebook newsfeed ad CTR is below 5%, you should pause your campaign and look at two things:
1 MESSAGE Is your Call To Action compelling enough? Are you sure that your audience wants what you’re using as lead gen bait? Why are you so sure? Is it just because you think so, or have you actually asked your audience? Try asking the question above in groups and forums, and modify your message based on the answer. Spend time getting to know your audience, even if you’re already passionate or knowledgeable on your subject. Join Facebook groups and forums. Ask questions, answer questions. Even just 15 minutes a day. I guarantee you will make more money next year by doing this.
2 TARGETING Are you targeting too broadly? For example, are you targeting “essential oils” or have you niched your targeting down to just websites, and pages that ONLY people in your audience would be familiar with? Don’t be afraid to spend an hour researching your target interests. It will pay off.
OPT-IN PAGE I won’t go into a ton of detail here about split-testing. On a very basic level, you need three things: 1. Congruency with your ad copy. The Call To Action on your ad copy should be nearly identical to the Call To Action on your landing page. 2. Keep it simple and clear Don’t have more than one Call To Action. 3. Tracking Make sure you’re tracking how many people are actually opting-in. Don’t ballpark anything in your funnel. This is a surefire way to lose money.
A Pre-sell page is designed to build interest and desire for your product and to get them to click through to your Salespage.
See how important it is to break apart your sales funnel and analyze what’s really working? If less than 50% of the people seeing your Thank You Page are clicking your Salespage link, then you know you should be spending some more time pre-selling your product and building interest to get them to click on this link.
This is the way I run my funnels (after extensive testing). After someone optsin to my mailing list, I have the Thank You Page, thanking them for entering their email and then pre-selling them on a product that I believe would interest and help them.
I could talk on this topic for days, but the most helpful thing when it comes to increasing the performance of your presell copy is having a topic that interests your audience – in other words, have a product that your audience actually wants.
The main goal of my Thank You Page is to convince them to click on the “Learn more” link, which takes them to my Salespage. Again, tracking is key here. On a very, very basic level, at least use a program like “Bitly” so you can track how many people are clicking through to your Salespage.
UPSELL PAGE
PRE-SELL PAGE
Too often I hear people tell me, “I’ve had 200 opt-ins. So 200 people have seen my offer, but I only made four sales, so it’s not working!” This isn’t the case. My guess is less than 50 people have seen your offer, and that’s if you’re doing a decent job of pre-selling. On the other hand, though, four sales out of 50 is pretty good! You may have thought you had a conversion problem on your Salespage, when in actuality that’s working just fine, and you have a pre-sell problem.
Most people come up with an idea for a product not based on market research, but based on what THEY think is a good idea. Unfortunately that usually doesn’t cut it. 9 times out of 10 I pre-sell my product, which basically means that I sell my product before I create it. Not only is this better for the customer (takes the pressure off of me worrying about if it will sell, and allows me to focus 100% on creating a great product), but I also find this process INCREDIBLY informative. I’m able to learn if people are willing to spend money on my product before investing any time creating it. I’m able to learn reasons people buy, potential objections they have to this product, hesitations, and so much more.
When it comes to creating a product that sells, you need to go directly to your audience and ask them what problems they are having. Find the problem, then pre-sell the solution. You can get to market faster, with a better product. Again, I could talk about this for days. But for now I just want to make you aware of the different areas in your funnel that you could be spending your time working on. So spend some time breaking down your sales funnel and looking at the different metrics and really figuring out what’s working and what’s not.
Brittany Lynch is an entrepreneur who has been marketing online since 2008. After starting her internet career working at Google in the AdWords department, she has gone on to sell millions of dollars’ worth of products and services online, as well as helping many others do the same, while still in her early twenties. To learn more traffic and conversion strategies, go to:
www.BrittanyLynch.com
www.SteveSipress.com I RHINO MONTHLY
I 7
May 2016
TWO KEYS TO ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS
Two Keys
to Entrepreneurial Success By Peter Diamandis
If you want to create a successful, hypergrowth company, you’ve got to focus on creating the right culture and learning how to rapidly experiment. In this article, I discuss these two key subjects with Jeff Holden, a brilliant entrepreneur and executive who has held leadership roles at three hypergrowth companies – Amazon, Groupon, and Uber. Today Jeff is the Chief Product Officer of Uber. As Jeff explains, there are critical lessons for every entrepreneur, so let’s dive in.
1. YOU HAVE TO CONTINUALLY INVEST IN CULTURE
You have to be deliberate about creating and investing in culture.
Culture is often difficult to define – and yet, it’s extremely important to get right.
To illustrate this, Jeff shared a fascinating story about Jeff Bezos’ relentless obsession with culture and customer-centricity at Amazon. He explained, “Bezos was a fantastic leader and he invested in making the company durable. He was continuously investing in the culture. Building a solid culture was so critical, especially for a hypergrowth company. It was our resilience fabric. It held the whole company together through all kinds of different things.
For a startup without structure, culture can be this amorphous “thing” that is often a reflection of the attitudes of the people on the team – an emergent property, of sorts. But if you’re not careful, the wrong culture (or even the “lack of culture”) can be lethal to your business, especially in the early days of hyper-growth.
8 I RHINO MONTHLY I www.SteveSipress.com
TWO KEYS TO ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS
“I worked at customer service one Christmas, and I remember this woman who was traveling to Russia for the holidays. She ordered all of these Christmas presents, and they weren’t going to make it there in time. She called customer service, worried sick. Without hesitation, the Amazon team pulled out all the stops to fix it. “We spent probably $500 or $600 to overnight her $1,000 worth of gifts, and she was so completely blown away that she couldn’t stop saying, ‘Oh my god, you saved my Christmas!’ It was the Amazon way. It was so core to the culture. There was this energy and passion to just win for the customer and to do something no one’s ever done before.” 2. BE CRYSTAL CLEAR ABOUT YOUR MISSION One of the most important parts in the process of establishing a culture is clearly defining the mission of the company. Jeff goes on, “You have to be very clear about your mission. At Amazon, we knew the top three things customers cared about were: Price, Selection, and Convenience.” As such, they were able to define their culture around how best to provide the lowest prices, most selection, and most convenient service for their customers. And within a company as dynamic as Amazon, one of the best strategies to doing so was to be constantly experimenting! 3. YOU MUST BUILD AN EXPERIMENTAL ENGINE FROM DAY 1 The only constant is change, and the rate of change is increasing. The only way to keep up is to be constantly experimenting and innovating. Hypergrowth and experimentation are very closely linked.
May 2016
available to almost everyone – meaning, if somebody wanted to test a new button or new feature on the website, they could. The problem was – many of these experiments were useless.
The only constant is change, and the rate of change is increasing. The only way to keep up is to be constantly experimenting and innovating.
Jeff continues, “They had no chance of yielding any value. There wasn’t any point to them. We were just kind of curious. We were just running a lot of experiments, which have a cost by the way, and taking up experimental slots (so others couldn’t), and things started colliding with each other.”
experiments we do per year, per month, per week, per day…” Jeff Holden, who has built experimental engines at Amazon, Groupon, and Uber, agrees: “The philosophy is you have to build your company to be a big experimental engine and it has to start right at the beginning.” It’s not easy to just “retrofit” that engine in later – it’s a cultural shift. You have to be in the mindset of constantly testing crazy ideas, new business models, new products, and new processes. You’ve also got to be scientific. At Amazon, in the early days, they had a huge experimental platform that was
Their solution was to create an “Experiments Group” – if you wanted to do an experiment, you had to run it through this group. The first question the group would ask was: What’s your hypothesis? The second question: What’s the value proposition to our company? “If you couldn’t articulate your hypothesis crisply or your hypothesis didn’t matter for Amazon or Uber or Groupon, then they must not do that experiment. Often times you’ll be like ‘go back to the drawing board’ or ‘recast the experiment.’ The company learned and we got much better.”
Jeff Holden, who has built experimental engines at Amazon, Groupon, and Uber, agrees: “The philosophy is you have to build your company to be a big experimental engine and it has to start right at the beginning.”
Bezos likes to say, “Our success at Amazon is a function of how many
www.SteveSipress.com I RHINO MONTHLY
I 9
In general, only hire people who are familiar with the experimentation / data-informed mindset.
Finally, “you have to be able to interpret the experimental results really well. It’s statistics. Know the difference between statistically significant and insignificant results.” Uber, for example, runs thousands of experiments per month to test different features. They A/B test key features that are core to the business and choose the one that performs best.
Jeff explains, “That tolerance of being misunderstood or being beaten up by the outside world was so important to launch our success. Amazon Prime could have been one of those catastrophic failures. We tried auctions and that failed and we tried zShops and that failed. But we just kept going, and we finally cracked it.
For those of you that DON’T have an experimental culture in your business, Jeff advises:
“Then, when we launched it to the world the response was: ‘You guys are insane! This is like, super risky. You’re going to blow up with all this margin from shipping.’ Bezos, characteristically, replied, ‘Yeah, I kind of figured this would be misunderstood…’”
•
•
“Build a team inside your organization that has an experimental ethos, and make sure that the experiment, value proposition, and hypothesis are really thought through before you invest the time and energy to actually do them.” In general, only hire people who are familiar with the experimentation / data-informed mindset.
4. GET COMFORTABLE WITH BEING MISUNDERSTOOD Part of having a strong culture around experimentation means you are going to be misunderstood by outsiders.
These days, Amazon Prime has over 50 million members who spend on average $1,100 every year -- nearly double the purchases of non-Prime members. As another example, at Uber, maybe 20-30% of the experiments they run actually work. The rest don’t… but they are informative and useful nonetheless. Innovative companies just need to be very comfortable being misunderstood. Jeff’s advice: “You want to look inside and be inside out about the way you think about your company.” In other words, ignore the noise and keep building.
10 I RHINO MONTHLY I www.SteveSipress.com
Recently named one of the “Top 50 World Leaders” by Fortune Magazine, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis is an international pioneer in the fields of innovation, incentive competitions and commercial space. In the field of Innovation, Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, best known for its $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private spaceflight.Today the X PRIZE leads the world in designing and operating large-scale global competitions to solve market failures. Diamandis is the New York Times Bestselling author of Abundance – The Future Is Better Than You Think. Abundance was #1 on Amazon and #2 on New York Times. Sign up for Peter’s video and email blogs at:
www.Diamandis.com
THE FUTURE IS NOW
THE FUTURE IS
NOW
May 2016
Most people just allow life to happen to them, but we have the power to orchestrate our own future.
By Dr. Will Moreland
Many times we think of the future as some distant, far off event, but actually the future is NOW! Today used to be what you called the future yesterday, and tomorrow, which will be today when you get there, is the future. So what you will experience in your future depends on what you do today. Read that sentence a few more times…
prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.” When you plan your future, you are more equipped to handle the challenges of life, the road blocks, and the detours that come your way. See yourself as a majestic eagle; the
By planning your future, you will begin to see how much more control you have over your life then you ever imagined. Step away from the crowd – those that just allow life to happen to them.
Don’t be the person that waits for things to happen, or the person who allows things to happen to them. Be the person that makes things happen!
Growing up in Compton, California at a time where the drug problem, gang violence and murder rate were at an all-time high, Dr. Will Moreland made a critical CHOICE in his life. He wasn’t going to let his start determine his finish.
Most people just allow life to happen to them, but we have the power to orchestrate our own future. If you don’t believe me, you will never enjoy life – you will only endure it. You will be forced just to react to what happens to you, instead of controlling what happens to you. Today I want to challenge you to plan your future. I recommend that you take a few hours and really think about what you want your future to look like. Let me tell you, this will likely be very tough for you, because you will be engaging in a practice that you are not used to. But it is well worth it.
eagle can see three times farther than the average human. When you can see farther, you can plan better.
Over the last two decades, he has studied and implemented the tools, habits and mental perspective it takes for ANYONE to achieve success in life. He has read over 500 books and listened to countless audios and video recordings on the subject of personal development, leadership and success. Dr. Will is a serial entrepreneur, having started or helped start over 15 companies. He is the founder of Will Moreland International, and the author of the critically acclaimed book Genius Potential. He is also the author of 10 other books on topics that range from finances to relationships, and is known as one of America’s leading Leadership and Lifestyle experts. Dr. Will helps individuals navigate a better life, allowing them to grow their personal leadership skills and Live In Victory. Discover how Dr. Will can help you live a better life by going to:
www.WillMoreland.com
One of my favorite Proverbs says “A
www.SteveSipress.com I RHINO MONTHLY
I 11
May 2016
MANNY’S BLOG
Briefcase Full of Blues? Ha! It’s Briefcase Full of Kibble! Big news! I’ve been promoted from merely writing these bodacious blogs to being the office manager! You doubt my business credentials? Feast your eyes on my MBA degree. (Of course in my case that stands for Mooching, Begging, and Aggravating, but an MBA is still an MBA.) This is a natural progression for my family. My uncle was a pointer and now I’m a PowerPointer! Besides my math and people skills, another thing I had going in my favor was that it’s a little difficult for one of the canine persuasion to get away with stealing office supplies. (“What??? How did that electric pencil sharpener get attached to my leash? Honest, Steve, it just jumped off your desk!”) But in a larger sense, humans in business offices aren’t so different from dogs. Humans are accustomed to people telling them, “I’m throwing all my business your way! Ha ha! Faked you out! Now, this time, I’m doing it for real…Ha ha…” To thank our loyal clients and drum up some new business, I’m organizing a company “open house.” Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of experience with “open houses”; you’d think with all the rent I’m paying, Steve and Michele could at least put a screen door on my dog house. One of my goals is to tone down office politics. I’m well aware of just how dangerous politics can be. My cousin Derrick the dingo got into trouble for shaking hands and stealing babies. Kissing babies, Derrick – kissing! I’ve enjoyed getting job applicants to open up during
interviews. (I’ve always wanted to say, “Speak! Speak!”) But some of the jobseekers are a little on the dumb side. One thought “spreadsheet” is what you do when you’re painting a room. When I told another that we’d be working closely with the Chamber of Commerce, he wondered if we’d get to watch Harry Potter play Quidditch. I’m pretty shrewd in the purchasing area, and I will let nothing distract me from cutting costs to the bone – mmmm, bones. Yum! Growl! Um, er… what were we discussing? I’ll try not to do anything too revolutionary. No “thinking outside the box.” The cat next door did that and got exiled to the Great Outdoors. I’ve been trying to dream up slogans for our business. Granted, some of them can be a tad derivative. (“Like a good neighbor…we leave our garbage cans unsecured.”) I want to make certain that you get served in a timely fashion. Sure, our competitors use all sorts of office amenities to make you feel you’re at home – but they also make you think it’s your Forever Home! I’ve made a few missteps, like bringing my own music for the office. I wanted “easy listening,” but instead customers find it hard to listen. Curse you, human hearing range! Anyhow, I’m taking a few vacation days to see about getting that door installed. “Hey, maybe you could put in a Dumble-door! Get it?” “I thought I kicked you out. Security! Security! File him under Hopeless!”
Manny (full name “Emanuel” or “Dog With Us”) is Steve and Michele Sipress’ crazy, rambunctious cocker spaniel. He has a weak leg (despite a mostly-successful back surgery), grey hair, is totally deaf and partially blind. But he still enjoys barking at the mailman and landscapers, pulling dead frogs out of nearby ponds and chasing after his beloved squeaker toy. He loves everyone (even the mailman and landscapers), and everyone loves him.
12 I RHINO MONTHLY I www.SteveSipress.com
PETER’S LAWS
July 2015
Handy Mailing is the Go-To Resource for all of your Direct Mail & Printing Needs! www.HandyMailing.com
We’re Highly Recommended! "I've used many different print-and-mail services over the years, and I trust only Handy Mailing with my monthly magazine. That should tell you everything." - Steve Sipress “Handy Mailing is honest, easy to work with, and sends out my mailings on time. I have used them for almost 100 different mail campaigns with a variety of formats. They always get the job done! I highly recommend them” - Craig Simpson “HMS understands Direct Response Marketing and all that Dan is teaching. They go above and beyond to get jobs done and take care of the little details involved with mailings.” - Darcy Juarez, GKIC “Their service is phenomenal, their price is great, they are easy to work with, and they do what they are supposed to every time.” - Keith Lee
Get A Quote Today! 1-800-624-3622
JulieS@HandyMailing.com Thomas@HandyMailing.com
OUR SERVICES INCLUDE
SERVICE
Laser Print - Small and Large Runs - Color or Black & White - Cards and Letters - Variable Data Letter Quality Ink Jet Targeted Mailing Lists Post-It-Notes Tear Sheets Hand Font Addressing Live Stamps Lumpy Mail PURLs Postcards Scratch Offs
SPECIAL OFFER! Recieve 10% off of labor on your job when you mention this ad
www.SteveSipress.com I RHINO MONTHLY
I 13
RHINO MONTHLY Volume IV Number 5 | May 2016
CONTENTS:
1
Lessons Learned from Donald Trump By Steve Sipress
6
Fix Your Broken Funnel By Brittany Lynch
www.SteveSipress.com/magazine
8 Two Keys to Entrepreneurial Success 11 The Future Is Now Full of Blues? Ha! 12 Briefcase It’s Briefcase Full of Kibble! By Peter Diamandis
By Dr. Will Moreland
Manny’s Blog
2 Colin Theriot INTERVIEW WITH
The Dark Side of Persuasion
Publisher Steve Sipress Successful Selling Systems, Inc. 20701 N Scottsdale Rd Ste 107-509 Scottsdale AZ 85255 (p) 773-236-8134 (f ) 847-232-1535 Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
w w w.AskSteveSipress.com
Layout & Design Bobbie Miltcheva www.33graffics.com
Publisher’s Notice: Copyright 2016 Successful Selling Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Neither the author nor the publisher make any express or implied warranties concerning the legal or ethical appropriateness of any of the marketing documents, materials or instructions in or enclosed with the magazine and/or your use of the same. If in doubt about the appropriateness or legality of any materials or instructions, you should obtain competent guidance, just as you would with any marketing documents, materials or marketing plans you have develop ed or would develop on your own. In the interests of disclosure, we want to b e op en ab out how we may, from time to time, make money from this mag azine. Certain third-party links contained in this magazine may be affiliate links for which we get paid a commission if you buy the product or service through the affiliate link.